European union design, also known as "Community Design", is a Council regulation adopted by the Council of the European union in December 21 to protect European union designs. The EU design patent is directly applied to the EU Trademark Patent Office and is valid in 27 countries. The 27 member States of the European Union include: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, Britain, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania.

duration of protection of EU design patents

The duration of protection of EU design is 5 years from the date of application, and it can be extended four times after the expiration, each time for 5 years, and the longest protection period is 25 years.

materials required for applying for a patent for design in the European Union

1. Information of the company applying for a patent, including the full name of the company in English or Pinyin, the English address of the company, telephone and fax email address, etc. If an individual applies for registration, he/she needs his/her pinyin name, address, telephone number, fax number and email address.

2. Product information to be patented and 1 to 7 pictures in JPG format.

3. The patent category to be registered in the EU is the same as that in China, or the name of the product.

4. If you claim the priority of domestic registration, you need a copy of the official certificate of the priority design registered earlier in China and the corresponding English or French translation. Such documents can be submitted within three months from the date of application.

EU design patent application process

1. Time from application to authorization: 3-6 months.

2. The appearance of the EU adopts EUROLOCARNO.

3. After submitting the application, you will receive an acceptance number about half a month.

4. Examination: The EU Trademark Office only examines the application based on the following two absolute refutations: (i) Whether the main object meets the definition of design; (ii) whether the design violates public order and good customs.

5. grace period for announcement: a grace period of 12 months can be provided, so that designers can verify the possibility of commercial success before registering.

6. Postponement of publication: If the applicant is unwilling to publish the design immediately, he may request postponement of publication. The longest delay in publication can be postponed for 3 months. If you want to cancel the extension, you can request to publish the design at any time, but if you choose to publish it from beginning to end, the registration will be invalid after 3 months. Generally, you should apply for publication in the 27th month at the latest. (If the application is delayed, there will be an additional charge.)